How can I successfully evade the Police at higher wanted levels?
I've been having some trouble evading the police when they start calling the helicopters out to spot me. Two stars and below it's pretty easy to flee in a car and either avoid the cops altogether or duck into some alleyway until they lose you.
Helicopters however, always seem to spot me when there's something (a building, a container, etc) between me and the helicopter. Sneaking or going into cover doesn't seem to help.
So what's my best bet for evading the all-seeing helicopter at higher wanted levels?
Head immediately for the nearest train track then find the nearest tunnel.
They show on the map as light grey lines. Tunnels show as a darker grey.
The helicopters can't find you in tunnels and in most cases if you get a good run down the tracks you'll have lost the cars too. On the off chance a cop car does make it into the tunnel with you it shouldn't be too hard to dispatch them as they can't surround you any more.
After that it's just a case of making sure you don't get hit by a train. They're very loud when approaching so that shouldn't be too hard either and then you're home free.
This is my tried and trusted method that has worked successfully right up to 5 stars.
As I see from your question you have problems with helicopters(cops being just the same at 3 star level, growing into somewhat of a SWAT team at 4 stars).
What I normally do at 3 stars is the following:
- Lose as many cops as possible
- Get out of the car, take an assault or a sniper rifle
- Take down the helicopter(by killing the driver)
- While there is no other helicopter, run/flee/drive away/whatever from the cops and hide somewhere. Just make sure that a new helicopter won't be able to spot you there(under an overpass for example as Ryan suggested) and constantly check the radar to make sure that there are no cops around.
- Wait there for a (short) while and drive out as an innocent civillian
With 4 stars the strategy is pretty much the same, but then there comes a SWAT team on SUVs and from a helicopter(so there can be 2 helis at once in the sky). The tactics is pretty much the same, just a bit(lot) more difficult.
Can't say anything about 5 stars yet, didn't do enough crimes to get it :)
My preferred method is to jump onto a moving train as:
- It's always moving and cannot be derailed (As far as I am aware)
- If you manage to get into the flatbed style carriages you can use the edges for cover
- The train often goes under bridges/tunnels which help you evade Helicopters
I've often evaded 5 star wanted levels using this method, however this of course means you are near a train at the time.
This is what I do:
If you are planning to get 4~5 stars, try to get a SUV/4x4 or, if you are in downtown Los Santos, a fast car that can climb hills.
Take the nearest highway and go to Banham Canyon or Vinewood Hills or Tataviam Mountains (if you are in Blane County just go to the nearest place that doesn't have roads/dirt roads).
Now get out of the main road and don't get near any dirt roads or beaches and keep driving to any hills that you found. GTA V cops don't follow you there. If doing that you can't dismiss the helicopters, get out of the car and destroy them.
Now the fun part: when your stars start to blink, find a bush, get out of car and hide yourself in a bush (just enter into it) and wait. Cops can't find you in bushes :)
I tend to use the "Burn and Turn" method:
- Keep an eye on the mini-map and avoid the cops.
- Once you start to pull away, make a turn then floor it for a while.
- Rinse and repeat.
If you get enough space between you can the cars, you can hop out and pick off the helicopter quickly, and return to the Burn and Turn method before finding a nice hiding place and sit tight.